L.A.

CD of the Month: AM’s “Future Sons & Daughters”

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Singer/songwriter AM isn’t a stranger to having left his musical mark right under your nose; his last LP Troubled Times had every track licensed to all sorts of projects on television and film, an impressive feat not done since Moby’s mega-hit Play. With that kind of cred, AM has already proven a strong viability with most any audience, but without the necessary weight that comes in being a well-recognized mainstay. That’s about to change with his latest LP Future Sons & Daughters, a fully developed snapshot of AM in the context of, not just the single, but the lost art of the album.

Produced by Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields), this lush and multi-faceted pop work is a testament to AM’s love of retro radio, analog warmth and laser-precise melodies. Nods range from ’60s Detroit to ’70s Philly, but intends to be current with a modern palette in production. Highlight track "Fortunate Family Tree" revives roots melody awash with steady organs, loose snares and hallucinatingly wavey lead guitar lines, all signs that this is a worthy trip to a past sound, sans the cringing generally associated in homage attempts. This is pop music for the refined ear, or, rather, the ear that remembers what pop music was really always supposed to be. -Hugo Gomez

L.A.

Saint Motel want to feast on your blood this Saturday at The Roxy

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Saint Motel’s 2nd Annual Valentine’s Zombie Prom
Sat., Feb. 13 | The Roxy | All Ages

Saint Motel have done well in their quest to kill the live show paper flier with viral video announcements, and they’re only getting better at it. Once you’ve checked out the video above of their barely Thriller-esque homage in promotion for their 2nd Annual Valentine’s Zombie Prom taking place this Saturday at The Roxy, save some cash by scoring advanced tickets.

And, of course, you could always check back on The Deli’s Twitter page if you think this is sufficient hinting for free tickets. We might post something there today.

L.A.

Win 2 tickets to fifth annual Lucent L’amour Visionary Love Fest!

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It’s Valentine’s week. Because The Deli loves you all so much, we’re giving away a pair of tickets away to this Saturday’s fift annual Lucent L’amour Visionary Love Fest, presented by The Do Lab. Made up of contemporary art fixtures, DJ sets and live burlesque and vaudeville performances by Lucent Dossier, the event (some of which isn’t all that foreign to Coachella attendees) is expected to turn out thousands again, despite the storm and the relatively high price (at $65 a pop, you’d be a fool for not entering this contest).

If you’d like to go, drop a line to @TheDeliLA after you’ve followed us and tweet us your favorite (and ultimately all-too repeated on KOST) love song.  First person to tweet their tune of choice gets a pair to this Saturday’s festival.

Portland

Mississippi Studios Raises Money for Haiti While Giving Pat Robertson the Finger

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Pat Robertson is an insensitive asshole. I mean, really, who blames the devastating Haiti earthquake on voodoo or says they had it coming because they “sold their souls to the devil.” Because of Mr. Roberson’s batshit crazy response to the catastrophe, Mississippi Studios is hosting a Haiti Benefit appropriately entitled, “Hell to Pay – Fuck Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh.”

And what better way to donate money than a night full of incredible local music, including the fantastic avant-garde popsters Hosannas (formerly Church) and psychedelic folksters Blue Giant and The Minus 5. Add playing “Pin the Shit on Pat’s Face,” in the front half of the venue, and you’ve got yourself a real benefit!

Doors at 7 pm, show at 8. Tickets cost $15 in advance or $15-$50 at the door (sliding scale). All proceeds go to Mercy Corps

-Katrina Nattress

New England

Interview with The Shills

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shills

The Shills are fast carving their niche in the Boston area scene with their music, songs that are simultaneously catchy, challenging and experimental in sound and concept. With their second full-length album Ganymede, a conceptual album about a misanthrope who is shipwrecked on an island and forced to confront himself, The Shills continue to hone their talents and distinct style as they assert themselves as a staple of the Boston scene. Recently, Bryan, Eric, Dave and James were kind enough to answer some questions for the Deli.

Deli: Could you give our readers a brief biography of the band? How you got together, what your musical and non-musical inspirations are, how you characterize your sound and style, etc.?

Eric: James, Dave & myself were in a previously existing band called Gallery. We fired our singer and were auditioning new ones when we came across Bryan. We all have different and similar musical influences, which is a great combination. The stuff we all like gives us a common ground to work from and then we can all bring in our own different influences and jumble it all together to create a new overall sound. It’s never been easy for us to describe our sound but it’s something like progressive pop/rock. We like to blend pop melodies and song structures with musically complex ideas and rhythms. The idea being that anyone can identify with sound right off the bat but there’s a lot of subtle complexities to keep it interesting. Basically we want my little sister and our music nerd friends to all dig it.

Read the whole interview by Meghan Guidry HERE

NYC

Is Xylos the New Abba? CD out later in 2010, Live at The Studio on 02.19

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The love-inducing quintet Xylos has been bringing up-lifting dreamy soft tunes to the world since the release of their debut EP, Bedrooms in 2008. Their songs are a heavenly chorus of female and male vocals that will take you back to those Sunday afternoons at church harmony – ah! Don’t you ever miss those days when you could sing unselfconsciously during mass? As their name suggests there is plenty of xylophone-like percussive sounds here, plus gentle electric guitars and a laid back rhythm section. The band showcases a noteworthy musical maturity, channeling at times tropical influences (In The Bedroom), and experimenting at others with more daring ideas/song structures (Mission). The female lead singer’s vocals have the power to trigger instant attention and warmth. Their debut LP (produced by Britt Myers – the man behind bands like Chairlift and Yeasayer) will be out later this year, but in the meantime you shouldn’t miss their live show at The Studio at Webster Hall, Friday the 19th. – Chloe Schildhause

Austin

Indie BBQ this Friday

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A trio of local acts is descending upon the most fancified BBQ joint in town: Ideal Soul Mart, Wiretree, and The Pons play at Lambert’s (401 W. 2nd St.) this Friday (2/12). (That’s Ruby Painter of The Pons pictured above, looking glam and contemplative all at once.) Fearless pop for the postmodern world, to steal a line from The Pons themselves. 

Chicago

Verbal Kent Mixtape and Tour

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This month Verbal Kent will be unleashing his latest album “Save Your Friends”, and to hold us over, give us a peak, and mark Verbal Kent’s upcoming tour of Europe, Beat Trotterz has released a mixtape. This mixtape combines over 24 tracks spanning Kent’s career and contains “Example” featuring Lance Ambu and William Kurk from “Save Your Friends”. Kent has appeared on 20 release indie hip hop releases since 1999, and is one of the most prolific and respected emcees in town.

NYC

SUSU release new CD, play Glasslands on 02.09

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Brooklyn devastatingly noisy SUSU have a new record and this is what they say about it (from our Open Blog): "R and R and R is the culmination of a year of writing and reaction. Our process was simple and 100% collaborative – mostly forget everything you did the day before, but keep the things that stick. Once we had the bases for songs we fine tuned or de-tuned the mixtures to produce what you will hear. We feel our approach was very visceral but respectful of a traditonal "song". We are very excited with the results and hope you will be too. You may hear echoes of what we have done on our previous release, but for us it feels entirely more cohesive and powerful, as it was done in one big chunk. It is also very true to our live performance. It was recorded and mixed in 7 consecutive days at Machines with Magnets (Battles, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins in Dearland etc.) in Pawtucket, RI by Keith Souza and Seth Manchester. The guys there (and Lauren!) were amazing to work with, not to mention they let us sleep on the floor. Visit our website to purchase (iTunes, eMusic, Lala, Amazon etc.) Much love. – SUSU" – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). – Don’t miss their show at Glasslands on 02.12.

 

Chicago

Last Minute Plans: Baron Von Something

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I know you are probably buried in snow and don’t want to dig your way out, but if you can make it down to Empty Bottle tonight you will be rewarded. They are featuring three bands that play various forms of indie rock. The Vindits learn more towards the punk aspects of things, Baron Von Something play something more traditional, and Deadlands (from what I can tell) play alt-country tinged rock. It is three facets coming together for one night. Let’s see if they can melt some of this snow!

Portland

Band of the Month Nominee Spotlight: Echo Helstrom

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Classically trained five-strong group Echo Helstrom is rising into the spotlight of Portland’s eclectic center. This orchestral-driven ensemble is backed by a variety of stringed and melodic instruments, including upright bass, violin and various horns, creating an energy that builds an emotion deeply rooted in a place most musicians never quite reach. Each song seems to unveil a truth that is earnestly stated and summed up from its rising beginning to climactic end.

With lyrics thought to be Bob Dylan-esque, the band’s unusual name was actually taken from one of Dylan’s early girlfriends. While front man Ross Seligman holds an aura similar in sound and passion to that of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, he retains a uniqueness found easily relatable, yet peculiarly original. All the while, Seligman sings with spirit in a clear and resonating voice that transcends most pop or emotionally driven artists of similar vocal orientation.

Building off of the rising commercial and ever-spreading success of their full-length album The Veil, Echo Helstrom is gearing up to release the five-song EP Paper Airplane on Saturday, February 13th at the Aladdin Theatre.

Co-headlining the album release will be jazz-pop solo artist Jake Oken-Berg, who will be releasing his own new album Out the Door.

Doors are at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Get your tickets in advance for $10 and go support the emotional vibrato of Portland’s newest rising act, Echo Helstrom.

– Michael Miller